A few years ago, due to a happy Amazon accident, I found myself with 10 pounds of microwaveable soy wax. Yes, ten. That's a garbage bag full of wax, guys, so I was pretty stoked to hear that my lady friends were all-in when I proposed the idea of a candle-making night.

These girls showed up ready to throw down. They came with wine, treats, and a variety of seriously impressive containers for their soon-to-be candles. These were obviously seasoned thrift shop pros I was dealing with. Game. On. We had such an amazing time that I thought I would share some candle-making tips and tricks with you all, as well as a few of the fragrance recipes that the ladies came up with. (They got pretty creative with the naming process.)

Keep in mind that I'm no pro. I skip a lot of steps that professional candle makers would scoff at me for (like bubble popping and the like), and I hate measuring. So, whatever. All I know is that my candles look lovely and smell great, so, who cares.

Here's what you'll need:

A crummy old pot (preferably with spouts for easy pouring.) I got mine at Goodwill for 99 cents.

Soy wax (1-2 pounds should be enough for a few candles. If you're planning to make about 20 like we did, alas, you'll need that garbage bag full. You can order online or pick some up at Michael's.)

1. Fill your container with water to the level you want your wax to reach.

2. Pour that water into the measuring cup and take note of how much wax your container will hold.

3. Place wick in center of container. Cut long, thin strip of paper. Poke a hole with a pen in the middle. Thread your wick through the hole so that it stands up straight in the container. Tape the ends of the paper to the outside of your container to hold the wick upright.

3. In your crummy pot, melt your soy wax. (The "pros" on YouTube all use fancy thermometers, etc., for this. Again, we don't care much for rules, so as soon as the wax was molten, I called it good. However, DO NOT leave your wax alone on the stove, or over-heat it as it will catch fire. If that should happen, don't use water to put it out, throw a lid on the pan. So, like I said, as soon as it's molten, pour.)

4. Pour the amount of wax that your container will hold (remember, you measured this with water in Step 2?) into your crummy measuring cup. Add fragrance. Here's a really awesome fragrance pairing guide. (We started with one quick pour or "stream" of each, stirred it in and smelled. Remember, the wax is hot, so your fragrance smells stronger now than it will when the candle burns. Still, I'd err on the side of less fragrance and go from there.)

5. Pour wax into container carefully. Let stand overnight before burning. Take off wick holder and trim the wick down to size.

And here are the fragrance recipes the girls came up with:

"The Hippie Kitchen" by Kristen // patchouli, lemon, vanilla (one of my favorites of the evening!)

"The MANdle" // patchouli, rose, tea tree, sandalwood (This. Is. So. Good. It smells like that guy you wanna make out with.)